>>> WELCOME BACK. TODAY FLORIDA’S BROWARD COUNTY
COMMISSION IS MEETING TO DECIDE
WHETHER OR NOT TWO CRUISE SHIPS
OFF ITS COAST WOULD BE ALLOWED
TO DOCK AND THEN UNLOAD
PASSENGERS.
PASSENGERS. FOUR PASSENGERS DIED, NEARLY 200
BECAME ILL WITH FLU-LIKE
SYMPTOMS ON BOARD THE "ZAANDAM."
THE "ROTTERDAM" RESUPPLIED IT
AND TRANSFERS NONSYMPTOMATIC
PATIENTS OFF IT.
RON DeSANTIS SAID WE CANNOT
AFFORD TO HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE
NOT EVEN FLORIDIANS DUMPED INTO
SOUTH FLORIDA USING UP THOSE
VALUABLE RESOURCES.
VALUABLE RESOURCES. JOINING US, KERRY SANDERS FROM
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT WHERE THIS
ALL STANDS?
ALL STANDS? >> THE MEETING IS IN A BREAK
RIGHT NOW, BUT TO UNDERSCORE THE
QUESTION THAT THE GOVERNOR HAS
STATED REPEATEDLY, NOT ONLY TO
FOX NEWS BUT AT MANY NEWS
CONFERENCES ABOUT THE FACT THAT
THE PRESSURE THAT BRINGING THESE
SHIPS IN WITH PATIENTS WHO ARE
TESTING POSITIVE FOR COVID WILL
BRING, THIS MORNING AT AROUND
8:30 HERE AT PORT EVERGLADES,
THE PARAMEDICS RESPONDED TO A
CREW MEMBER WITH COVID-LIKE
SYMPTOMS.
SYMPTOMS. THAT PERSON WAS TAKEN OFF.
THAT WAS JUST ADDRESSED AT THE
MEET CHICAGO ISING WHICH IS IN A
RIGHT NOW.
RIGHT NOW. THE QUESTION IS, WHERE DO THESE
TWO SHIPS GO?
WHILE THEY INITIALLY SAID THOSE
THAT DID NOT SHOW SYMPTOMS WERE
TAKEN OFF THE "ZAANDAM" AND
PLACED ON THE "ROTTERDAM," IT
NOW APPEARS THERE ARE FOLKS,
PASSENGERS AS WELL AS CREW
MEMBERS ON BOTH SHIPS THAT ARE
EXHIBITING SOME SORT OF SYMPTOMS
OF CORONAVIRUS WHICH, OF COURSE,
THE GREATEST CONCERN IS WHAT
HAPPENS IF THOSE SHIPS COME IN
HERE AND YOU LET THESE PEOPLE
OFF THE SHIP.
DO THEY OVERWHELM THE HOSPITALS?
HOLLAND AMERICA WHICH OWNS THE
SHIPS IS ULTIMATELY OWNED BY
CARNIVAL, AND THE CHIEF MARITIME
OFFICER BILL BURKE SAYS THAT
HE’S ASKING PORT EVERGLADES, THE
OFFICIALS NEAR FT. LAUDERDALE TO
ALLOW THE SHIPS IN BECAUSE IT’S
A PLACE OF LAST RESORT.
THEY’VE BEEN REJECTED FROM PORTS
THROUGHOUT SOUTH AMERICA UP
THROUGH PANAMA, THROUGH MEXICO
AND NOW THEY FEAR THAT THIS IS
THE ONLY PLACE THEY CAN COME.
ON BOARD, THERE ARE PASSENGERS
WHO DO NOT HAVE SYMPTOMS, CHRIS.
FOLKS WHO WANT TO GET OFF AS
SOON AS THE SHIPS GET HERE.
THIS IS WHAT ONE OF THOSE
PASSENGERS SAID.
PASSENGERS SAID. 72-YEAR-OLD CLIFF CULVER.
>> I’M A U.S. CITIZEN AND I
SHOULD NOT BE DENIED ENTRY INTO
THE U.S.
THE U.S. YOU DO NOT EVEN KNOW IF I’M SICK
OR NOT.
OR NOT. I AM HEALTHY, AND YOU REALLY
DON’T CARE.
DON’T CARE. YOU ARE JUST SAYING YOU DON’T
WANT US TO COME BACK TO OUR
HOUSES, BACK TO OUR COUNTY, BACK
TO OUR HOME.
I DON’T UNDERSTAND THAT.
>> LET’S MAKE SURE YOU
UNDERSTAND THE NUMBERS THAT
WE’RE TALKING ABOUT ON THESE
SHIPS.
SHIPS. FOUR PEOPLE HAVE DIED.
EIGHT PEOPLE, IT’S BELIEVED,
HAVE CORONAVIRUS.
HAVE CORONAVIRUS. THEY HAVE A SIMPLE TEST.
THEY TOOK OUT 200 TEST KITS ON A
HELICOPTER, AND IT’S NOT THE
COMPLETE TEST BUT IT’S SUGGESTED
AT LEAST EIGHT PEOPLE HAVE
CORONAVIRUS, AND THEY ARE
ASSUMING 200 MORE ON BOTH SHIPS
ALSO HAVE COVID-19.
SO IT’S A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF
PEOPLE.
PEOPLE. AND IF THIS WAS A WARTIME, AND
WE’VE HEARD SO MANY PEOPLE TALK
ABOUT THIS AS A WARTIME EFFORT,
THIS IS THE CLASSIC WARTIME
QUESTION.
QUESTION. DO YOU PROTECT THE PEOPLE HERE
ON LAND FROM POTENTIALLY BEING
INFECTED.
INFECTED. BUT IF YOU DO THAT, ARE YOU
SACRIFICING THE PEOPLE ON BOARD
THE SHIPS POTENTIALLY TO DIE
FROM COVID-19.
FROM COVID-19. IT’S A QUESTION THAT THE
POLITICIANS INVOLVED HERE SAY IS
AN EXTREMELY DIFFICULT ONE AND,
QUITE FRANKLY, ONES THEY DON’T
WANT TO HAVE TO MAKE.
LISTEN IN.
LISTEN IN. >> IT’S NOT A COMFORTABLE
POSITION TO BE IN AT ALL.
ON THE ONE HAND, YOU WANT TO BE
A HUMANITARIAN, BUT ON THE OTHER
HAND, YOU HAVE A PUBLIC THAT YOU